Shima Relocates From Main to Eagle Street

Suzy Helme and Libbie Pike stand at the counter of their newly set-up store, Shima, which re-opened this week on Eagle Street.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Shima may have moved to a smaller location in downtown North Adams, but its owners still look for the store be a cornerstone in the community.

Owners Suzy Helme and Libbie Pike originally called Main Street home - in two different locations over the last sis years - for their baby boutique store that specializes in unique and natural alternatives for baby gear. This week, the store moved to Eagle Street to a smaller, more manageable location.

“We needed a new spot,” Helme said. “Largely the other spot was a good location, but it was a very large space and for the money we just couldn’t afford the rent for a space that we couldn’t completely utilize.”

Pike said that the North Adams community is incredibly important to them, and the move was an obvious decision.

“We learned that this place became available, and it was either move or close,” Pike said. “We chose to move; we love this community and want to be a part of it.”

Helme said that although the space will change many of the in-store activities Shima offered to new and soon-to-be parents, they will work to continue to be a useful tool for families in the community.

“We won’t be able to offer in-store playgroups, but we are going to work with some of our favorite local nonprofits to ensure the continuation of things like our birth circle,” Helme said.

Helme said that they are happy to be on Eagle Street and think it is an exciting place to do business.

“We love this community, so we are invested in it, and we just got here on this side of the street, but hopefully there will be a lot of good things,” she said. “There are a lot of good things happening to the other buildings on Eagle Street so hopefully we can build a nice little community here.”

The new location is directly connected to Persnickety Toys, and Helme and Pike see this as a plus.

“We think being next to the most popular toy store in our community and in the Berkshires is probably a very good thing,” Helme said.

Helme said the move was quick and enjoyable

“It was pretty good. Libbie and I actually enjoy manual labor so we had a very good time moving,” Helme said. “We packed on Monday, moved the big stuff on Tuesday, set it up on Wednesday, and we were open by Thursday.”

Helme and Pike said they were optimistic about the future of their store.

“It’s been good so far and people seem to know where we are we are,” Helme said. “We are looking forward to a lot of good years here.”

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